Decades from now it is possible that Americans will look back and be appalled at how we waste food today.

More than 30 percent of food is thrown away. The single largest solid waste component in our landfills today is food.

In a world where almost a billion people go hungry, it is heartbreaking that an estimated 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted annually around the world.

In every step of the supply chain, food is tossed out.

In fields, imperfect veggies and fruit get plowed under. In transport, produce that is bruised or dropped is tossed. On shelves, if it appears unmarketable, out it goes.

Even after food is purchased, it risks getting thrown out if consumers fail to plan how to use it or misunderstand the “best-before” dates on packaging.

This has led to $165 billion of food being wasted by Americans every year.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in town recently, told The Denver Post the federal government is set to make a big stink about food waste.

In May, Vilsack and other agricultural officials from the Group of 20 countries proposed an initiative to urge countries to come up with ways to reduce their food loss and waste.

In developing counties, food is tossed because of improper storage or transportation. In rich nations, it is just basically thrown away.

Even Pope Francis recently pounced on the issue in his encyclical — “Whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor.”

It will take promotional campaigns and willingness for consumers and businesses to change, Vilsack said.

For example, restaurants could begin offering varying portions to their customers.

The food industry could clear up the confusing date-labeling policies and practices that a Harvard University report says is a key factor in food waste.

Know this: “Sell-by” dates are when stores should pull the products from the shelves, not when they should be tossed. “Best-by” dates are when products have reached their most marketable peak. And “use-by” dates are suggestions by the manufacturer of when the product should be used.

No federal guidelines dictate date-labeling policies, leading to broad inconsistencies of how they are used and interpreted.

Even Vilsack uses a “food keeper” app on his phone to determine when he tosses his food.

Change is coming.

The former president of Trader Joe’s recently opened a store in Boston that sells discarded food at discounted prices.

Schools around the country have created “share tables,” where students can exchange lunch food items.

And in Denver, a nonprofit called Denver Food Rescue sends bicycling volunteers to grocery stores to retrieve produce destined for the landfill.

Cyclists redistribute the food to free grocery programs set up in low-income neighborhoods.

“So far this year, we have rescued 150,000 pounds of food,” said Amy Moore-Shipley of Denver Food Rescue.

Food waste in the face of hunger is unconscionable. But it is a problem Americans can fix.

Litter once was a huge dilemma in the United States. But a massive public campaign by Keep America Beautiful — remember the crying Indian? — pushed the country to change. A 2009 study found the actual count of overall litter decreased 61 percent in the U.S. since 1969.

Here’s hoping the same type of change will occur with food waste, and it won’t take 40 years.

Jeremy P. Meyer was a reporter and editorial writer with The Denver Post until 2016. He worked at a variety of weeklies in Washington state before going to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin as sports writer and then copy editor. He moved to the Yakima Herald-Republic as a feature writer, then to The Gazette in Colorado Springs as news reporter before landing at The Post. He covered Aurora, the environment, K-12 education, Denver city hall and eventually moved to the editorial page as a writer and columnist.

There is no rhyme or reason, and nothing that could pass for a justifiable goal or an ounce of sense, in the infliction of misery on the 800,000 federal employees either on furlough or working without pay.